William boubke



(No Model.)

' WQBOURKR BUTTON. I 9 I No. 379,929. Patented Mar. 27, 1888;

J14 fiw/wi Y which means may be readily and easily ap- I UNITED STATES PTENT nOFFICR.

WILLIAM BOURKE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BUTTON.

SPHCIPICATION i'orming part of Letters Patent No. 379,929. dated March27,1888.

Application filed October 15, 1887. Serial No. 252,424. (No model.)

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BOURKE, of

Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Sleeve-Buttons, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.My invention has relation especially to means for securing the heads ortops upon the shanks of sleeve or cuff buttons; but obviously myimprovements may be applied in connection with other buttons or studs,or articles of like general character, and nothing herein is intended tolimit their application to any particular species.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple, cheap, durable,andeffective means for uniting the heads of buttons and like articles,

plied without danger of damage to the head, of stone or other material,and which shall possess other advantages in the matter of construction,operation, and use; and to accomplish this my improvements involvecertain new and useful peculiarities of construction and relativearrangements or combinations of parts, all of which will be herein firstfully described, and then pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figurel is a plan view of the under side of the top or head of a but tonrecessed to receive the securing appliance, and Fig. 2 a verticalsection thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the stop or hearingplate with the expanding nipple mounted thereon in accordance with myinvention, the shank being omitted, for the reason that any shank may beattached to the stop or bearing plate in any way. Fig. 4 is a sectionalview showing the nipple expanded in the recess of the head and theextended bearing-plate flat against the lower surface of the head;andFig. 5 is a plan View of the parts assembled as in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is aview, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing the applicationto the stop or hearing plate of a peculiar form of shank and movable oradjustable shoe or base-piece, omitting the head or stone. Fig. 7 is aview, partlyin section and partly in elevation, showing one form ofbutton complete and ready for use, the base or shoe being I turned downin the direction of the length of the shank to facilitate insertionthrough a but ton-hole; and Fig. 8 is a side view of the but ton shownin Fig. 7, the base or shoe being turned at right angles to the shank.

In all these figures like letters of reference, wherever they occur,indicate corresponding parts.

Heretofore and before my invention it was customary to expand a metalplate into a recess formed in the button-head, the shank be-' ingconnected directly with the plate-to be expanded. The plate for thispurpose was necessarily large enoughto receive and hold capable ofresisting strain only through the bearing of one-half of the plate onthe 'wall of the recess, in consequenceof which the recess was cut sodeep as to further weaken the head, but without removing the peculiarinstability of the fastening; and, again, the degree of compressionrequired to effect the expansion being variable, and no means providedfor arresting the compressing movement, many breakages occurred, also,on account of this defect. To obviate these disadvantages I constructthe appliances as follows:

A represents the head of a button, which may be of stone, pearl, metal,or any other desirable or suitable material. This is provided with arecess, a, of which the walls are slightly inclined, the recess being ofshort diameter and of small depth comparedwith the dimensions of thehead, which maybe of any figure.

B is a plate of metal, of considerably larger diameter than the recessa, receiving the shank upon one side, which shank may be of any patternand secured in any way, and having the shank,and afford surface outsidethe shank for application of the tools to effect the expansion, besidesthe additional extent of surface for entering and expanding in the head;All this required that the recess in the head Ebe of large diameter,thereby weakeningthe' head to such an extent that it was difficult to.apply the securing devices without breaking ;the head. Further, withthis former style of fastening a very slight strain was sufficient torelease the head, the expanding plate being of expansible metal. Thisplate isin the form of an outer flange, which, when the nipple is inplace, constitutes a hearing-plate. The nipple may be attached to orformed with the plate B, and is of slightly greater depth than therecess a, and capable of entering the recess easily. The nipple beinginserted in the recess provided for it, suitable tools are applied tothe exterior of plate B and the plate pressed down to contact with theunder surface of head A, the operation efi'ecting the expansion of thenipple. In this operation the plate operates as a stop for thecompressing-tools, thereby preventing the nipple from being expandedfarther than intended, or to any such degree as to rupture the head.Theappliance so constructed being in place, the plate B bears againstthe under sur-' face of the head, so that any strain upon the shanktending to withdraw the nipple from its seat must, before separation canbe effected, turn the nipple about the margin of the bearing-plate, andthis margin being well removed from the recess it is plain that thenipple will resist the strain by its bearing upon the entire wall of therecess, so that the nipple must first be bodily removed, and notpartially, as in the former construction alluded to. Obviously thisaffords a stronger union between the parts, while at the same timereducing the liability to damage in assembling or while in use.

While, in accordance with the main feature of my invention, the shankmay be of any kind or pattern, the improved mode of fastening ispeculiarly advantageous in connection with the double or bracing shank,such as indicated at (J in Figs. 6, 7, and 8. Of these there are severalforms, the principal feature'of all being that they afford a widebearing upon the connecting parts. \Vhen these are applied upon the oldform of plate above mentioned, they necessitate the still furtherenlargement of that plate,with the consequent increase of danger ofbreakage, whereas with my improved mode of fastening the head thesecurity and stability of the union are in no way diminished. If thespread of the double shank be such as to require an enlargement of thebearing-plate, so much the better, for it will only remove the fulcrumor turning point (that is, the margin of the plate) farther. from thenipple, and render it necessary to draw the nipple the more directly outof its seating before any separation can take place.

Upon the shank the shoe or base may be stationary or movable. Drepresents the shoe, which is shown as made movable, and needs nofurther explanation here.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new herein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The herein-described stop and bearing plate for button heads, thesame being provided with an expansible nipple or thimble on one side,combined with a recessed button-head, into which the nippleis forced andexpanded, substantially as and for the purposes explained.

2. In a button, the combination, with the recessed head, of a nipple orthimble, a stop or bearing plate connected with said nipple, and a shankconnected with the plate, the nipple being forced and expanded in therecessof two witnesses.

WILLIAM BOURKE. Witnesses:

JOHN BUOKLER, WORTH OSGOOD.

